Systems for Creating Capital

Humans are a biologically evolved social species with advanced cognitive skills. While there are a number of social species, such as ants, humans are the most sophisticated in terms of creating societies. All species have some cognitive skills (e.g., a plant senses sunlight and orientates toward it), and some have very specialized skills (e.g., echolocation in bats). Humans, however, have the most advanced cognitive skills. We have jointly applied our social and cognitive skills over millions of years to create the sociotechnical systems that dominate today’s world and are responsible for our capital creation system.